Aarakshan, आरक्षण, is a 2011 Hindi film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. Directed by Prakash Jha, the film is a socio-political drama based on the controversial policy of caste based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. Like the majority of Jha's films, it has a simplistic take on complex social and economic issues. The film also stars Prateik Babbar and Manoj Bajpayee and was released on August 12, 2011.

Aarakshan released in 1085 cinemas across India. The film saw 50-70% occupancy on its first day of release, while in Delhi, it opened at around 60-70%. The film's business was affected due to the bans imposed on its screening in Punjab, UP and Andhra. It went on to collect INR4.47 crore on the first day. The opening weekend collections of the film were around INR 18.33 crore. However, Aarakshan fell badly at the box office in its second weekend. The film grossed INR37.53 crore nett on Indian box office in two weeks. Aarakshan added around INR3 crore nett in its third week to go to INR40.50 crore nett in three weeks. The film added INR58 lakhs nett in India to go to INR42.38 crore nett in four weeks. The film added INR5 lakhs nett in India to go to INR42.43 crore nett in five weeks. Moreover, the film fared poorly in the overseas markets. It grossed £76,000 in the United Kingdom, $345,000 in North America, $190,000 in UAE and $82,000 in Australia, taking it's total overseas gross to $900,000 over its first weekend. In its third weekend, the film collected £13,085 on 42 screens at the U.K. Box office with a total of £1,68,662 [approx. INR1.27 crores], Australian $1,42,193 [approx.INR 69.26 lacs] in two weeks at the Australian Box office. Aarakshan’s total worldwide nett collections after three weeks were INR 47.75 crores.